"With Jack's death -- and Grandpa's stroke in 1961 -- my father was now the male head of our Kennedy clan. As he battled his own doubts, despair, and loneliness, he somehow found strength to hold our family together. He took special care of Aunt Jackie and her children, eating dinner with them in Georgetown several times each week, and later, arranging for them to move to New York.

We now spent our vacations with Jackie, Caroline, and John, as well as with the Lawford children, my Aunt Pat and her husband having separated. They accompanied us on river trips and ski vacations, as my father threw himself -- and us -- into challenging physical endeavors, "a wild delight runs through the man, in spite of real sorrows." I remember my father on those outdoor retreats increasingly encouraging, loving, and laughing."

--Robert F. Kennedy Jr., "American Values: Lessons I Learned From My Family